Vijayawada: To ensure cleanliness at bathing ghats, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has decided to deploy sanitation personnel exclusively for cleaning at Krishnaveni, Durga, Bhavani, and Punnami ghats along the Krishna River in the city.
Devotees visiting Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) temple atop the Indrakeeladri hill shrine visit Durga, Bhavani, Punnami, and other ghats to take a holy dip before having darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga. Additionally, people in the city throng to bathing ghats to take a dip in the Krishna River during auspicious occasions such as Karthika Masam, Maha Shivaratri, the annual Bhavani Deeksha Viramanalu, and various other Hindu festivals.
However, devotees visiting these ghats face discomfort and are forced to take a dip in murky water at ghats downstream of Prakasam Barrage. With the Shivaratri festival set to be celebrated grandly, during which lakhs of devotees are expected to throng these ghats to take a dip and offer prayers at nearby temples, the VMC has stepped up efforts to clean the ghats. In this regard, the ghats, which often appear defiled, will be cleaned by the municipal corporation.
VMC chief HM Dhyanachandra instructed officials to set up dustbins and deploy dedicated sanitation personnel to carry out cleaning activities at the bathing ghats, transforming them from their usual defiled state into clean and tidy spaces.
“We demand that authorities maintain regular police surveillance at the ghats, apart from carrying out cleaning activities,” urged Venkata Narayana, a resident of Krishna Lanka.
